Rev. Franklin Graham: Apostle of Hatred
March 02, 2015
Countering Violent Extremism
Rev. Franklin Graham: Apostle of Hatred
by Rev. WILLIAM E. ALBERTS
If America is to protect itself by “countering violent extremism,” as President Obama’s recent summit intends, it must first hold accountable its own violent patriotic and Christocentric extremists. A violence-arouser to start with is Rev. Franklin Graham, son of famed evangelist Billy Graham, who is called the “pastor to presidents” and who led former president George W. Bush to “commit my heart to Jesus Christ.” (“Billy Graham: Pastor to Presidents,” By Janet Chismar, Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, billygraham.org)
Rev. Franklin Graham, now leader of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and international aid group Samaritan’s Purse, has left a trail of Islamophobic rants since the horrible 9/11 attacks against America. His response then was not to call America to engage in national soul-searching—as prophets of The Bible might have done. Rather, he blamed 9/11 on Islam, calling it a “very wicked and evil religion.” (“Franklin Graham: ‘Islam is a religion of war,’” By Ruth Gledhill, Christian Today, Dec. 6, 2014)
Never mind the documentation that shows Muslims do not “hate our freedom,” as former president George W. Bush charged to explain 9/11. They hate our so-called Christian nation’s support of tyrannies in their countries, and favoring Israel at the expense of Palestinian rights. (See “‘They hate our policies, not our freedom’: Quietly released Pentagon report,” By Tom Regan, Christian Science Monitor, 11/30/2004)
Rev. Graham’s glorification of his brand of Christianity depends on him condemning Islam as a “violent form of faith,” which led him to do violence to Islam with this glaring lie: “‘Nowhere in its history gives proof of peace (italics added).’” He continued, “‘Islam itself has not changed at all in 1500 years . . . It is the same. It is a religion of war.’” He cited the Islamic State, the Taliban and Boko Haram, and concluded, “This is Islam. It has not been hijacked by radicals. This is the faith, this is the religion. It is what it is. It speaks for itself.” (Ibid)
More:
http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/03/02/rev-franklin-graham-apostle-of-hatred/
= new reply since forum marked as read
